I do like that he's a velo guy. A lot of the Bloom draft picks were "stuff" guys or pitchability guys that we hoped would play up (Matt Duffy as an example).
Teams were being bad for multiple years on purpose. That's not the same as "tanking" in one specific year for a certain draft pick. It's not "tanking" it's just being a really horrible team for a long stretch.
People were specifically referencing tanking in this thread in regards to getting top overall draft picks, not whatever argument you are trying to make now. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
I think you wouldn't trade the money. The team with the bad record still keeps the extra slot money and can pick later in the draft. The better team just has a chance to pick a really good player they would never have been able to get previously at the expense of the rest of their draft.
I know you forgot Xander. It's fine. I'm just saying that it's "confirmation bias" that people believe that generally Sox players do better after leaving.
I don't think the expectations are unfounded. Younger players tend to improve. It's not like people are saying that Devers is going to turn into a GG defender. Casas should just be better at 1B. He was much better in the second half defensively.
Springs spent a year in the TBR bullpen. He was converted into a starter the following year and had a career year. He blew his arm out at the beginning of the third year. Seems like a normal Rays progression?
Xander's wRC+ was the worst since 2017. It's just confirmation bias. You see someone doing good and you remember when they were on the Red Sox. You forget all the people that either continue to suck or do worse.